Tornadoes and Katrina: the totally fake news from Cape Town’s storm

If you’re reading this piece, good for you. It means that you’re actively searching for the truth among the steaming pile of manure that is “fact” on social media.

There have been a number of fake images and videos circulating on social media during the intense cold front currently lashing Cape Town and surrounds. Thanks to swelling public interactions, they’ve also gone viral. And that’s not a good thing.

Considering the severity of the storm — the fact that people are now homeless in the likes of Imizamo Yethu, Khayelitsha and Mfuleni — should be more than enough reason for people to not share fabricated content about the storm.

This is arguably one of the sneakiest ‘shops we’ve seen, but some community members on Twitter — who stare at the mountain all day — quickly attacked its authenticity. AfricaCheck later confirmed that the video is fake after the original poster unashamedly admitted that it was indeed bogus.

He seemed quite chuffed with himself too.

Just mention somewhere that tornado originally only existed on my computer. Hint Hint! :-)

There was still no tornado in Cape Town today

A ten-second clip of what seems to be a tornado ripping through Cape Town’s CBD is also currently doing the rounds on social media.

First seen yesterday, the video has since been reshared and reposted across YouTube, and has also made its way to Twitter.

The clip is however (sorry urban storm chasers) fabricated. The South African Weather Service, City of Cape Town or SANDF hasn’t made a squeak regarding a swirling mass of air and debris in the centre of the city. And one might’ve thought that they would… don’t you think?

A quick glance on Twitter, Facebook and the services’ official websites reveal no news of weather anomalies spotted in Cape Town’s CBD or surrounds.

It stems from this Twitter video of Cyclone Vardah shared from Chennai, India in December 2016. The clip received over 700 retweets and 300 likes.

Note: We’ll continue to update this article as more images and videos of the Cape Town storm appear and trend on social media. For tips on how to spot fake news yourself, have a look at our brief guide here.

Author | Andy Walker: Editor

Camper by day, run-and-gunner by night, Andy prefers his toast like his coffee -- dark and crunchy. Specialising in spotting the next big Instagram cat star, Andy also dabbles in smartphone and game reviews over on Gearburn. More